Want to make your favorite restaurant meal at home? This cookbook can help

What home cook among us hasn't headed to the kitchen trying to re-create a favorite restaurant dish?

Four sisters have succeeded where most of us have failed. Their work appears in a new cookbook, "Favorite Family Recipes: Most Requested Copycat Dishes (Shadow Mountain Publishing, $24.99). It's from sisters Echo Blickenstaff, Erica Walker, Emily Walker and Elise Donovon. They began sharing their recipes online and in cookbooks under the Favorite Family Recipes umbrella back in 2007.

Their new book features 101 homemade versions of restaurant recipes. Many come from popular national chains, including the Cheesecake Factory, Outback Steakhouse, P.F. Chang's and Olive Garden. There are fast-food restaurant recipes from Chipotle , Panda Express, Taco Bell and In-N-Out. Drink recipes inspired by Starbucks are included, as are some specialty dishes from restaurants at Disneyland and Disney World.

Erica Walker also shares her tips for creating your own copycat recipes. It doesn't even start in your kitchen. Being observant can get you some recipes, she suggests.

For example, if a restaurant does a tableside preparation, say for guacamole, it's like a recipe demo. It even gives you a chance to ask questions. Also, if you are at a counter with an open kitchen, it gives you insight you wouldn't normally have. You can see if they grill the meats and maybe even tell what seasonings they use. It gives you some info to take into your kitchen.

If you like the Maple Butter Blondies at Applebee’s or the popular lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang's, you'll find the recipes shared here.

The buttery brownie has a flaky top and a gooey center. You also need to make the maple butter sauce that is served with the blondie.

Their copycat Asian lettuce wraps have fresh ingredients and should be served with both dipping sauces, creamy and spicy versions.

Maple Butter Blondies

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1½ cups butterscotch chips

For the Maple Butter Sauce:

⅓ cup butter

1 cup sugar

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

For the toppings:

Butter pecan ice cream

Chopped candied pecans

To make the blondies: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Mix until smooth. Add egg, vanilla and salt. Stir until blended.

Mix in flour until combined. Fold in butterscotch chips.

Spread the batter into the baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes.

To make the Maple Butter Sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine all maple butter sauce ingredients of butter, sugar, cream cheese, maple syrup and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. Simmer for 10–15 minutes, stirring frequently.

To assemble: Once the blondies are cooked and cooled completely, cut into squares. Plate with ice cream, sprinkle with chopped pecans and drizzle sauce over the top.

Total time: 35 minutes

Serves 9

Lettuce Wraps

1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated

For the Teriyaki Sauce (See notes):

1 cup teriyaki sauce

⅓ cup sweet chili sauce

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon finely minced or grated fresh ginger

Red pepper flakes, to taste

For the chicken filling:

4 tablespoons oil, divided use

1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into small pieces

Salt and pepper, to taste

½ cup sliced green onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup chopped water chestnuts

½ cup pine nuts or cashews, chopped

⅓ cup chopped mushroom (optional)

For the Dipping Sauces:

The remaining teriyaki sauce (about ⅔–¾ cup)

¼ teaspoon sriracha sauce, or to taste

1–2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

To make the Teriyaki Sauce: Combine all teriyaki sauce ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.

To make the chicken filling: In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper. When oil is hot, add chicken. Cook until chicken is white on all sides (it doesn’t need to be completely cooked through), then remove chicken from skillet and set aside on a plate. Discard any extra juices.

In the same skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, water chestnuts, pine nuts or cashews, and mushrooms. Sauté for 1–2 minutes.

Add chicken and about half of the teriyaki mixture to the skillet. Cook for 7–8 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through.

To make the Dipping Sauces: Heat remaining teriyaki sauce in a small saucepan. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Divide sauce into 2 small bowls. In one bowl, add sriracha sauce and mix well. In the other bowl, add creamy peanut butter and mix until smooth.

To assemble: Place 2–3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the center of each lettuce leaf and roll it up.

Notes: Half of the teriyaki mixture will be used in the chicken filling, and the other half will be used to make the dipping sauces. For the ingredients, we like Mr. Yoshida’s original teriyaki sauce and the Mae Ploy brand of sweet chili sauce.

Total Time: 25 minutes

Serves 6

Both recipes excerpted with permission from "Favorite Family Recipes: Most Requested Copycat Dishes" (Shadow Mountain 2024).

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Want to make your favorite restaurant meal at home? This cookbook can help